The Victorian Greens have said they will introduce amendments to repeal the Wood Pulp Agreement when Parliament returns, to prevent logging companies from continuing to try and squeeze more and more money from Victorian taxpayers.
Overnight, it was reported that Opal was suing the Victorian Government for $402 million dollars, for failing to provide a steady supply of pulpwood to the Maryvale Mill, after the Government ended native forest logging.
This was allegedly a breach of the government's agreement with Opal under the Wood Pulp Agreement, which was first signed in 1996 as a gift from Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett to the native timber industry.
The Greens say this Bill should have been torn up years ago, as it is no longer relevant, but Labor's reluctance to get rid of it is leaving the state open to lawsuits from logging companies.
The party developed a private member's bill in 2018 to repeal the agreement, which was rejected by the then Andrews Labor Government.
And now, Opal seemingly wants hundreds of millions in taxpayer money instead of investing in more sustainable options, like recycled paper and plantation timber. The Wood Pulp Agreement Bill needs to be repealed for good.
As stated by Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell MP:
"Logging companies could have transitioned to plantation timber and recycled paper decades ago, but they wanted to keep logging and destroying native forests as long as they could - now they're looking for even more handouts from the Victorian taxpayer. It's dodgy - and Labor needs to support the Greens Bill to stop this.
"Labor should have ripped up this Kennett-era deal years ago. We shouldn't be giving Victorian resources over to logging companies, we should be investing in sustainable alternatives instead.
"The Greens introduced a Bill to cancel this secretive handover of taxpayer dollars to logging companies in 2018, but Labor rejected it. Now they must finally listen and repeal this dodgy deal for good."
